Page 70 of Caper Crush
“Okay,” William says. “I can drive.”
“Okay.” I give a thumbs-up to Tessa. Tessa grins back at me.
“But I should warn you that there will be a water gun fight,” I say. “It’s one of our traditions when we go out to Fire Island.”
“Do your friends have kids?” he asks.
“Not yet,” I say. “We need to keep our kid-friendly skills up to date.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” he says. “What time should I pick you up?”
“I have a gig tonight, so about 8:00 a.m.?” I ask. “And Tessa will be coming with us. Also, Tessa and I wear wet suits.”
“In the car?”
“No.”
“Because?”
“Because it can be wet and cold.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. See you in the morning,” he says.
“Why am I feeling like I’m a chaperone?” Tessa asks.
“Definitely don’t be a chaperone,” I say. “Leave if you think anything is going to happen.”
“You forgot to ask him to bring friends,” she says.
“I did. I’m so sorry. I’ll text him now.”
“No, don’t,” Tessa says. “I just want to relax and not have to make conversation with some random dude. It’s my day off.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
The game is a combination of capture the flag and a water gun fight, perfect for Fire Island. Our home base is the area behind the house, which has the advantage of having both a hose and the outdoor shower. Penelope, Rory, Kareem, and Zelda have the front area, which has only the hose and the foot shower. The first decision is where to place the flag. Because we’ve played this game before, there are no new spots.
“We need to put it high up so there’s a bit of an effort to retrieve it. That will give us some time to find theirs,” Tessa says.
“The problem is then the bright colors can be seen in the trees.” My feet sink into the cool sand. Both flags are bright-red hand towels.
William looks a bit skeptical about this whole game. This may work. He may fail the fun test.
We look around our territory—a sand lot with dune grass, some pine trees, a telephone pole, a bamboo thicket off in one corner. A wooden dune fence separates it from the neighboring lots. The actual house is on posts, so you can go underneath it or around it to attack the other team. Wooden steps lead up to the back deck.
“Can we put the flag inside a green towel and place it in that tree over there?” William asks.
“That’s a good idea,” Tessa says. “I’ll get one. You guys start filling up the guns.”
William and I both squat down and follow orders. I fill two buckets with water for our foam water guns while he fills the Super Soaker using the hose.
“I’ve never even seen those.” He points to the foam water guns.
“These are great,” I say. “They’re perfect for the beach because you can pull up water from the ocean. And they’re very fast to refill, as opposed to that one, which takes a while. But don’t worry, one of us is usually back here refilling. Also, see that opening in the grass right there by the post holding up the deck? That’s one of the best routes to go under the house to attack them. But they also may be under the house, so make sure you’re fully stocked before you go.”
“You guys take this very seriously.”
